Liverpool ‘in good position to ride out economic storm’

Oct 12 2007 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL’S economic fortunes have been transformed in the past decade and the city is well placed to ride out the present global economic storm, according to a leading economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). Speaking to an audience of business owners and professionals at the city’s Tate Gallery in an event organised by RBS, Stephen Boyle also predicted the UK would emerge largely unscathed from the problems in the global economy. He said: “Liverpool’s economy outperformed the North West and wider UK economies during the last 10 years in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA), a key economic indicator that provides a measure of whether levels of wealth and productivity are rising.

“Average wage levels in the city are also ahead of many parts of the UK, which further illustrates Liverpool’s economic revival.” He added that Liverpool’s next challenge was to close the employment gap with the rest of the UK.

Also speaking at the event was The Mersey Partnership’s new chief executive, Lorraine Rogers, who said a key priority was to attract more corporate visitors to Liverpool.